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Milk tank for storage?

I just noticed a really nice s/s milk storage tank for sale not too far from here. 300 gallon with what looks like some kind of mixer on the top- $450 obo. This is one of those half barrel type with the flat top. It seems to me it would be a good storage tank (unless the honey granulated in there)
Anyone use one of these?

Re: Milk tank for storage?

hi
some of the early ones were surrounded with ice water on the sides and could be filled with water and heated. all of them have a very small outlet.I would take to a good shop and have a new 3 inch outlet installed.
in general they make a good tank. good luck beeware10

Re: Milk tank for storage?

They work well. The flat top models are easier to clean. They have cooling coils between double walls that can be used for heating. Mine is a 300 gallon vaccuum style that has 2- 18"X24" manhole at the top. The mixer can be used but I preferr to just let the honey settle so the junk float to the top I hooked the old cooling coils up to a hotwater heater and pump. 450.00 is a OK price. I payed 250.00 for mine. The scrap value would cover most if not all of that if you dont like it

Re: Milk tank for storage?

Unfortunately this tank does not have the cooling set-up so being able to keep honey warm in it is out, (unless some ingenious person out there has an idea they might share ).
There is no way this would replace the new Maxant 300 lb'r I just got , but I thought maybe I could store honey in it instead of a pile of buckets.
Next project is to try and figure out an easier way of uncapping, the scratcher method is getting about as old as the hand crank extracting was.

Re: Milk tank for storage?

I have 2 friends that have flat top milk tanks and both have the cooling coils but one friend found out after getting the tank home and hooked up that the coils leaked. He built his own on the inside side of the tank using 1/2 copper pipe and zig zagged it back and forth. It is harder to clean but seems to work good

Re: Milk tank for storage?

Just picked up a 600 gal. dairy tank from a relative who quit dairy cows a few years ago. Only large corporate dairies still operate it seems anymore. This tank has refrigerant lines with one inch threaded fittings that we plan to connect to our in-floor hot water heating system boiler. I wish I had it connected already so I could tell you how well it works or doesn't, but we just off-loaded it today. We'll check it out for leaks first and then find a goo location in the honey house for it. Their 300 Gal tank is still stuck in the milk parlor, with a block wall that needs to be removed before we can get it out. I don't have permission to tear out that wall yet. We're hoping the tank works out, then the 300 gallon one will be a nice addition to the assembly line.

Re: Milk tank for storage?

My 300 gallon was taken off line because the refer lines leaked. I first hooked it up to a garden hose and flushed it out. I then shut off the flow and took it up to pressure and left it. It never dripped a bit.

Re: Milk tank for storage?

Originally Posted by PerryBee

(unless some ingenious person out there has an idea they might share ).
Perry

I'm not ingenious by any means, but have a vision of fastening some roof melting cables (using heat tolerant caulk in dabs along the cable in spots) connected to a tank-contact thermostat. A thermostat such as a standard 120V water heater sensor wired in-line with the cable and it's sensor obviously touching the tank surface or else an electric heating thermostat with an immersion bulb. Water heater sensors have a low set point of 90°F, but a different sensor could be used, such as any with a sensing bulb. Most of those tanks I've seen have a sensor bulb port, but maybe the ones without refrigeration connections do not? Wrap the tank in some foam insulation strips held in place with silicone caulk, then wrap foil-bubble-wrap insulation over the stips. The strips are to space th f-b-w insulation to give it an increased R-value. The stuff is actually junk insulation if it contacts surfaces directly, only having an R-value of about 1.0 at best, but supposedly a higher value if spaced from a surface. Place the insulation over the heating cables to keep heat in the tank and drive heat energy from the cables into or toward the tank.

Or thinner foam insulation sheeting inlayers, such as siding fan-fold foam underlayment. It is easy to shape and should bend over the curved surfaces easily due to it's 1/4" or 3/8" thickness. It could be wrapped to the shape of the tank and held in place with silicone caulk or construction adhesive, or other sealer- Polyseamseal caulking? The thing I like about f-b-w insulation is the foil surface cleans easily and makes it more food handling friendly.

Just a thought, I could do a schematic, but my artistry leaves little for desire. Oh, yeah... make sure the heating cables are connected to a GFCI receptacle for safety. Forgot to put my safety hat on first before my thinking cap.